Cleaning After Midnight
by Chibishah
Summary: Tim McGee wanted a romance: nice, innocent and easy. Now he's got dead bodies, no killer and a young woman who knows too much, but doesn't talk enough. "Alice, what exactly do you mean when you say you're a cleaner?" McGee/OFC, Tiva. Warning: violence, language, some dirty thoughts and bad grammar. Sorry.
1. Chapter 1

**Cleaning After Midnight**

With a muffled sound the door shut and the empty silence in his apartment welcomed Tim home.

"Jethro?"

Seriously, weren't dogs supposed to be all happy and jumpy when their owner came home from a long hard day at work? Tim turned the lights on as he walked through the rooms, following the heavy snoring sounds until he found the German Shepherd dozing in his basket below the kitchen table. Jethro acknowledged his owner by yawning and bobbing his head towards the empty food bowl.

"And nice to see you too, buddy." Tim's voice was glum, but he still opened a can of dog food. Somehow, the adrenaline rush and satisfaction at finally solving the case of a dead marine were slowly wearing off.

As watching television alone would do little to improve his mood, Tim opted for music. Jazz was not really his favourite, but it always gave him a feeling of nostalgia, of optimism, and most importantly well-deserved relaxation. He felt like a detective from one of those crime movies in the fifties while he took off his jacket and changed into more comfortable clothes. That was the mood he was looking for. In the kitchen he poured himself a whiskey on the rocks. Not that he planned to drink it, but it looked good next to the old type rider and his wooden reading pipe. At least for an hour, then the ice would have melted leaving a brew looking like piss. Tim could almost see how angry Gibbs would be if he knew his field agent's habits of abusing Mr. Jack. Luckily, his boss would never find out.

With a satisfied smile, Tim settled in front of his type writer and stretched his fingers. However, before he could even hit the first letter, a heavy rumble from below made him cringe. Metal against wood. Then a shrieking dragging sound. More rumble. As the noise didn't break off, Tim remembered his landlord mentioning something about his neighbour moving out. Great, so much for well-deserved relaxation.

He sighed exasperatedly and thought about downing the drink, but doubted that it would taste any better now. As the well-bred young man that he was, he even thought about going down and helping his neighbour, but to be honest he never really liked that guy who knocked at his door almost on a daily basis only to complain. Besides, thanks to that bastard he could forget his nice and quiet evening, as now even Jethro seemed to accompany him by barking.

Depressed Tim turned the music off and made himself comfortable on the couch. Maybe there was a good movie tonight. Maybe even a good _loud_ movie. He raised the sound level to the max while hoping that his stupid neighbour might break a bone or two.

* * *

"Hey, Probie! Good morning! Are you invited to go clubbing with Ziva, too?"

Tony DiNozzo smiled while holding a paper up in the air like a trophy just as Tim left the elevator to the bullpen. Ziva tried a last time to grab the document, but failed again and finally gave up, sitting down behind her desk with folded arms.

"Tony, it's a ladies' night. And you are definitely not invited!"

The Senior Field Agent slapped Tim on the back who was walking to his desk, all the while fanning himself air with the piece of paper he obtained. "I will talk to Abby, she still owes me, you know."

He gave her a charming grin and opened the letter. "Besides, among so many invited girls you won't even notice me. Tell me, do all your friends have a body like yours?"

"Yes." A sickly sweet smile spread on her lips and Tony's face lit up.

"They also go with me to Karate, Kickboxing, Aikido and Jiu-Jitsu."

Tony swallowed hard before stepping slowly to Ziva's desk, dropping the letter and turning to his second designated target.

"Why such a long face, McGrouchy?"

Tim ignored his colleague hoping he would drop the subject, but of course he had no such luck.

"Well, since the chances that a woman kept you up all night are slightly below zero, I would say you've been elf-lording the whole night! Am I right?"

Irritated Tim looked up from his monitor. He wanted to say that it was a stupid theory, but since this was actually true for most of his weekends and Tony DiNozzo was a damn good lie detector, he decided to skip that part.

"The movie I was watching yesterday turned out to be some horror flick. I couldn't sleep all night, just kept seeing these..." He made some strange gestures, but couldn't really describe what he was seeing, "_things_."

"You were scared of _things_?" Tony's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"No, Tony, they weren't just _things_, they had _claws_ and _teeth_ and _eyes_ and..."

"Okay, I got it, McWimp, you're scared of horror movies! Did you squeal like a little girl? Oh – or did you hide behind a pillow?"

"No one's hiding!"

Gibbs' voice unleashed a collective jerk as he strode across the bullpen towards the opening elevator doors with a coffee in his hand.

"Grab your gear, we have a dead body."

"No, you don't."

Tobias Fornell appeared out of the elevator with a sour expression.

"_We_ have a dead body."

Gibbs' face turned grim as he regarded the Senior FBI Agent. "Do we need to discuss that now?", he asked brusquely before turning back towards his team. "We're going. Now!"

* * *

Luckily, Tim hadn't eaten yet. By now he was definitely used to seeing dead bodies in all its facets. He just wasn't used seeing so _many_. Bodies were scattered everywhere in the warehouse, a black car parked in the middle, the dead navy officer leaning out of his limousine, almost falling from his seat. Understandably the place was filled with government officials, mainly FBI agents. Ziva was talking with some of them and Gibbs was nowhere to be seen, probably still talking to Agent Fornell.

"Someone was very generous with bullets, huh.", commented Tony while Tim took pictures of the navy officer.

"I have to disagree with you, Agent DiNozzo.", objected Ducky who approached the NCIS agents, not taking his eyes off the dead body in front of them. Kneeling down he continued: "Whoever shot all these people, they were very professional, almost every shot lethal."

"Well, still seems like a drug deal gone bad, if you ask me."

"No one's asking you, DiNozzo.", came Gibbs' dry reply as he and Fornell stepped to the trio.

"He is pretty close, though." Fornell looked around as Ziva joined them and started to explain. "This drug deal was a set up."

"This was the FBI?", asked Tim.

"Hell no. Our target was Larry White here, navy officer and leader of an underground drug cartel. Great disguise, huh? We searched for three months until we could identify him and then spent two more planning on how to get him. My team was supposed to get that bastard this morning, at zero three hundred."

"So what went wrong?", asked Tony and raised his eyebrows significantly, but Agent Fornell just shrugged. "Nothing on our side."

"Then what happened?" Tim got impatient. That guy, Fornell, was trying to place the punchline right at the end just like Abby used to in her monologues, only without her charm. It was irritating.

Finally, the FBI Agent coughed slightly and leaned forwards. "Thing is, these guys were already dead."

"Then what's the problem? The job is done.", snorted Ziva and earned a stern look from Gibbs.

"The problem is, someone out there has a gun and kills people."

"And it's not the first time.", added Fornell, "five of our targets from the confidential criminal list of the FBI were found dead this year before we even had a chance to find them. This guy turns the FBI into ridicule, as if we couldn't do our job."

"So we're dealing here with a serial killer.", noted Tim and Gibbs nodded. Fornell groaned while rubbing his forehead, a sign that he was clearly unhappy with the involvement of the NCIS, but it was hard to keep Gibbs off from the case now. Finally he pointed his finger into the other's face. "You will keep me informed about every step!"

The ex-marine offered him a half grin and Fornell turned away, not without a last sigh. As the FBI agent left him with his team, Gibbs was back in command mode.

"Okay guys, back to work!"

* * *

People thought the most dangerous part about Tim's job was the field work, but they were so wrong. Today was an extremely dangerous day as the whole team came up with nothing for Gibbs.

Tony and Ziva were on the road first talking to White's wife who was totally oblivious to her husband's double life, then trying to talk to some dubious business men who might have known White. Sadly, this turned out to be dangerous and completely useless as those guys could only tell them how many rivals White had and that they were surprised it took so long for someone to finish him, while maintaining their innocence the whole time (although everyone seemed rather happy with the news of White's death).

Tim, on the other hand, was stuck with computer investigation, checking everything he could find about White. He found a lot, especially suspicious money transfers, but nothing that he could connect with White's murder. It was like searching for a tree in a forest.

Gibbs was fuming. Towards afternoon, Tim wished he could have gone visiting dangerous drug lords instead of sitting in his booth in immediate proximity to his boss. The intervals of his inquiries became shorter and shorter and in the evening, he really thought Gibbs would attack him or his computer. It was nerve-wracking.

"So, these FBI guys set this whole thing up, get ready to take this navy officer slash drug lord down, but when they arrive on the scene the guy is already dead?"

Tim waited with an answer as Abby seemed much too excited for his taste. Or maybe she'd just had a Caf-Pow.

"Uh.. yeah."

The goth squirmed before turning back to her computer. "It's like a superhero! Killing the bad guys and vanishing into the night. No one saw him; nobody knows who he is."

"So the bullet tells us nothing?"

"Well, the bullet always tells us _something_, but it's not much this time. A Glock 21, the same the FBI uses, pretty common. If you find me the gun though, I could tell you if it's a match."

Tim sighed and let his head drop on the table.

"How long do you plan on hiding here, McGee?"

"Until a lead magically appears in front of me, I guess."

"So bad?"

"Yup."

"Aww, poor Timmy."

He felt Abby's hand ruffle his hand. Just as she stopped, Tim knew his boss had arrived.

"What do you have for me?"

Tim's head jerked up and Abby started her speech.

"No traces of another person inside the car, so I focused on our navy guy to find out where he might have been before that, because, you know, all the other guys with him were obviously dead and couldn't tell us and his wife didn't even know that her husband earned pocket money on drugs and—"

"Abby."

"Oh, right. Well, there were traces of smoke in his jacket. First, I thought it was just from cigarettes as he used to smoke, but then I found some perfumes in it with a glycol mixture. This stuff is used to in fog machines as a special effect, you know. So our navy guy was in a club or theatre before his death."

"Good. McGee, follow me."

Tim gulped. He was so dead.

* * *

Back in the bullpen Tim saw that Ziva and Tony had come back, both wearing the same tired expression his own face was probably showing.

"So, what do you have, McGee?"

"Uh, based on Abby's results, we're currently running a scan through surveillance videos of all clubs and theatres from yesterday night, but we haven't found a match yet."

Gibbs waited expectantly. "That's it?"

"Yes. No. I mean – White was obviously involved in shady business, various accounts with suspicious cash transfers, but none of them is traceable. I'd say there are many people who would rather see him dead, but I can't find a lead on which one in concrete."

"I agree with Probie" Tony pressed the remote and photos appeared on the screen.

"Can't say anyone of his business partners is mourning his loss, weren't even trying to hide it, Gibbs. But everyone talked to us voluntarily and they all claimed to be innocent."

"One of the FBI Agents will bring us the case files tomorrow.", announced Ziva as she finished her phone call. "Maybe we should stop here for today." Nodding his head, Tony looked up to his boss with big puppy eyes. "Great idea. I need my beauty sleep." Gibbs thought for a second and finally waved his hand. "Be punctual."

Before he could change his mind, the three agents grabbed their bags and dashed into the elevator.

"This will be a long week.", Tony assumed. "If we can't find a trace of that killer, Gibbs is going to kill at least one of us. Probably you, Probie."

"Hey, Gibbs needs me for the technical stuff.", Tim protested and Tony moved his gaze to his other partner.

"I'm the strongest, remember?" Again, Tony thought about it, but before he could counter, Ziva interrupted: "He loves Abby."

"Okay, but I am the Senior Field Agent! I have the best instincts!" Tony smiled proudly until he noticed Tim and Ziva's shared look. "What?"

"Well, if you're not gonna find a lead to our killer, your instincts can't be that great...", mused the brunette, "maybe Gibbs will reconsider your position." Tim smirked appreciatively at her. "How does _Senior Field Agent David_ sound?"

"Hey, this is not funny, okay?" All humour had left Tony's voice, but Ziva just chuckled. "Or _Senior Field Agent McGee_?"

Tony huffed. "Stop it! Gibbs would never... I mean..." His expression turned grave just as the elevator doors opened. Chuckling Ziva and Tim lead the way, Tony followed sulkily.

* * *

It was already one o'clock when Tim was finally at home. Tonight Jethro seemed more excited, probably because he was simply hungrier. Tim fed the Shepherd and turned his computer on. Although exhausted, he was not tired, so maybe playing his online game could relax him before going to sleep. Just as the desktop appeared, a rumble startled him. Was that the sound of an engine?

"Not again...", he moaned while getting up out of his seat. Warily, he turned the music off and listened. Nothing. Maybe he was becoming paranoid. He already wanted to sit down again, as suddenly someone knocked on his door. Automatically, Tim's hand jerked to his gun, which was still resting against his hip while moving towards the door. He looked through the spyhole and saw blonde hair. At least the top of it. Bravely, he turned the knob and met a pair of pale grey eyes. The young woman smiled tentatively.

"Hi, I'm Alice. Your new neighbour. From below. I moved in here yesterday.", she added bit by bit as Tim remained frozen. Finally, he jerked his hand and shook her outreached hand.

"Uh, nice to meet you, I'm Tim."

His words made her smile and Tim couldn't believe that he had missed the chance to meet her yesterday. Damn, he could have made an impression by helping her.

"Actually my washing machine just died on me and I was hoping... I could use yours?"

Tim needed a moment to comprehend her words. Had it really been such a long time since he had the last time spoken with a beautiful woman? He felt nervous like a high school kid.

His gaze fell on the full laundry basket to her feet and he found himself nodding like a bobble head doll. "Sure! Sure... uh, let me help you with that."

He grabbed the basket and made room for her to enter his apartment. Jethro was already waiting by his foot to inspect their guest. Alice took off her ballerinas before leaning over and petting him on the head. "And who is your friend?"

"That's Jethro." _And Jethro obviously likes cute girls_, he added mentally as the four-legged womaniser already started panting excitedly just like he did with Abby. Tim could only shake his head before walking to the bathroom. Alice followed him through the living room.

"Wow, your place looks so cozy. And clean!"

As Tim placed the basket next to his washing machine, he gave her a small smile.

"Thanks. I'm a bit... fussy about hygiene."

"I've never met a man who is fussy about hygiene."

Tim watched her insecurely. He thought he had heard awe in her voice, but wasn't quite sure. It would be safer to change the topic.

"So, are you always up that late?" Alice's face went blank before shock registered on her face. "Oh my god, I haven't even thought about that! I just heard music playing and came over! Did I wake you up? I'm so sorry, I mostly work night shifts and I'm kind of a night owl, so I tend to forget that other people have normal lives with normal bed times..."

Tim eyed her surprised while listening to the flood of words. Her late work hours explained her fresh look. Although her pale skin seemed almost white, her cheeks glowed in a soft pink. Her hair was blond, glistening like wheat in the sun; the hair ends just reaching her shoulders, the fringe a straight line above her eyes. She looked nice, plain even. What made her gorgeous was that cheerful smile on her lips, appearing and vanishing during her carefree chatter about vanities.

"Don't worry, I have to work late, too. At least most of the time, so no harm done." He smiled reassuringly and Alice let out a breath she was holding. "So what do you work?", she asked curiously while filling the machine with her laundry.

Tim was grateful that she couldn't see his face in that moment. He hated to hide things, but his job was something he never shared with outsiders.

"I work at an office. Don't like to talk about work, though."

"Oh, I get that. I don't talk about work, either." She nodded. When she caught Tim's expression, she confessed. "I'm a cleaner."

That explained her reaction to his hygiene quirk. After adding the washing powder, she switched the machine on and looked satisfied at Tim. "So, have you eaten already?" Tim shook his head and Alice smirked. "Well, I have just prepared my famous vegetable gratin. Care to join me?" Tim grinned back. "I'd love to."

* * *

Thank you for reading!

I actually decided never to write in English since the day my English teacher asked me if I was on drugs when writing a test. I wasn't soo bad, the woman was just desperate for gossip, but it still left me feeling uneasy... So how is it?


	2. Chapter 2

"He's like a different person." Ziva crooked her head to the side. Tony and Abby copied her movement.

"Either he's got something for Gibbs or he met someone. Someone female.", declared Tony, and Abby finally moved from Tony's desk to Tim, who was pretending to be busily typing.

"You wouldn't betray me, would you Tim?", she asked hopefully, and at that Tim looked up puzzled.

"How could I betray you?"

Abby's eyes focused on him, scrutinising. She probably learned that from Gibbs, Tim thought. In the end, she stood up and turned around to the others. "I think he speaks the truth, but I'm not sure."

"And I think it's a woman. I know that look. I invented that look!" Snorting Tony got up and planted himself in front of his partner.

"Spill it, McLovin. Who is she?"

Tim had to admit, he wanted to share his happiness with his team, but he really enjoyed the sight of Tony begging for information.

"Okay. I have a new neighbour. And she is really nice."

"McGee!" Abby left her mouth gaping open, looking at him as reproachfully as she could. And although he had no reason to, Tim felt slightly uncomfortable.

"Forget nice. Tell me what she looks like!" Opposite to Abby, Tony looked like a squirrel that found a nut. "Is she hot?"

"Tony, I cannot believe that's all what you care about. You don't even know her name. And I'm very happy for you, Tim."

"Thank you, Ziva. And I won't tell you more anyway. We should focus on the case before Gibbs shows up."

"Too late." After a collective jerk, everyone moved back to their seats and Abby disappeared in her lab.

* * *

Towards afternoon Agent Fornell appeared in the bullpen.

"We checked the other dead guys, the minions of the drug lord. Thought he might not've been the target, but no trace. Further this crime is too similar to those before."

"What about money? If the killer was a hired professional, someone has to pay him.", suggested Ziva, but Tim could answer her this question. "Hard to identify such a payment if all your enemies are in the illegal business. All the victims were involved in drug or prostitution crimes. Those guys are experts in hiding their money."

Fornell nodded his head. "Such investigations take years. That's why we spend so much time getting those guys. I just don't understand how our killer got to them before we could."

"Maybe I have a connection between your victims!", announced Abby while sprinting to the screen.

"McGee, I sent you a video." After a few clicks, the video of a surveillance camera appeared showing a dirty back entrance of a club. A large group of men accompanied with some women left the building, talked and then everyone except two females entered White's car and drove away.

"This is the ally behind Cheers, a trendy new club for rich guys. And this is Larry White leaving Cheers with his entourage at two a.m. before driving away with them, all of them dead now."

"An hour before the deal." Gibbs smiled appreciatively at his forensic scientist.

"What's the connection?", asked Fornell while squinting at the screen.

"Well, the victims were all into prostitution and drugs, right? So, where would those guys spend their evenings normally?"

"But the other victims weren't partying before their deaths.", objected Tony while flipping through the case files.

At once, Tim remembered Abby's speech. "A superhero."

"What?" Ziva looked clueless, but Abby smiled at him, and Tim went on.

"That's how our killer could have identified his victims, in the clubs. Maybe they were doing business or behaving suspiciously. Abby mentioned that yesterday, that our killer acts like a superhero."

"He wants to get rid of the bad guys!"

At Tony's words Gibbs got up. "I want to know the name of everyone who was in that club. Check their alibis and if they ever met the other victims, talk to them. Move it!"

His team couldn't get up fast enough.

"On it, boss!"

* * *

Tim searched for his wallet while moving to the counter.

"Fried noodles with pork, please."

"Well, that's not a very healthy choice, Tim."

Surprised, the agent looked up to meet now familiar grey eyes. "Alice? Since when do you work here?"

"Since exactly seven and a half hours", she smiled and passed the order to the cook in the kitchen behind her, "and I can feel each hour."

As to emphasize she stretched her arms behind her head, yawned and leaned back on the counter. "So, how do I look?"

Tim grinned and leaned closer to her. The small Chinese restaurant was empty except an old couple eating in the corner. It was very warm inside and Tim could see little sweat drops on her forehead, probably because she was so close to the kitchen. Still, her smile was radiant and she looked beautiful in her polo shirt with a chicken print and that ridiculous visor hat.

"Very attractive. Especially those yellow mustard stains match your hair colour markedly well."

She grimaced and followed his amused eyes. "They said they had no clean one left. But seriously, it smelled like someone died in this shirt." Tim threw his head back laughing. "How could you wear this for so long?"

"Well, after an hour standing in the vapours of that guy's cooking, I just smell chicken flavours."

Just as she finished her sentence, the cook appeared with a full plate. He looked grim at the new cashier girl and started to rant at her in Vietnamese, not stopping even when walking back into the kitchen.

"I think he heard that."

"What did he say?"

"I have no idea."

* * *

After half an hour talking, eating and taking orders from customers, Alice's shift was over and both went outside. Tim had offered her a ride in his car he had just parked around the corner, which she gratefully accepted, both ignoring that their apartment building was just a ten-minute walk away.

"So why did you move here?"

Alice thought about it for a moment before she answered. "It's closer to work."

"You mean the cleaning?", he asked doubtingly. Alice just shrugged. "I'm hired by rich guys, you know. They pay a lot."

"Then why do you need a second job?" Tim knew he was pressing, but Alice didn't seem upset. "I have a lot of siblings."

"How many?"

"Twelve."

Tim froze just as they arrived in front of the apartment complex. "... Twelve?"

The blonde just laughed and got out of the Porsche. "I grew up in an orphanage. My roomies are my family."

As her words dawned on him, he tried to catch up to her.

"And I support my younger siblings just like I was supported by the older ones."

"Wow. That's very nice of you."

Alice kept going without looking back. "Nah, it's just family."

As they reached her floor, Tim accompanied her to her door, telling her it was safer this way, but actually he just wasn't sure if he should kiss her or not.

"Uh, listen..." At her door Alice suddenly turned around and looked him square in the eyes.

"You always work late and..."

She seemed to wait for a reaction, so Tim just nodded with a blank face.

"... and you don't talk about your work..."

Again, he nodded.

"... and you drive a Porsche..."

Now Tim eyed her warily. "What are you trying to say?"

"... _Please_ tell me you're not a gangster!"

He furrowed his brows. "No! Of course not!"

A relieved laugh escaped Alice and she leaned forward to press her lips lightly to his.

"Good. Because I really want to get to know you."

Smiling she turned back to unlock her door while Tim still tried to figure out how to breathe again.

"G'night."

"Night.", he pressed out before the door shut and a goofy grin spread on his lips.

* * *

Tim was so lucky to be able to spend the next day working behind his desk while Tony and Ziva were out interrogating people. As the computer expert that he was, he could research on autopilot while thinking about something else – or better somebody else. He compared faces of club visitors from all clubs the six victims were active in, but at the same time he kept replaying the last moments he had seen Alice yesterday.

It was definitely too early to make any plans, but damn it, he could really see it, coming home from work to their shared apartment, eating her vegetable gratin, talking about the day, walking Jethro together in the park around the corner, watching a horror movie together and laughing about it before going to sleep. Just the imagination made him all dizzy inside.

Maybe it would come true. He had a shot at this, that he was sure of.

"McGee!"

Tim jumped. Gibbs was standing in front of his desk with a coffee, studying him with sharp eyes.

"Where are you?"

"Sorry, boss." He cleared his throat and began his report.

"Abby and I could identify most of the club visitors in White's case with the database, we are just waiting for the identities of the women who talked to him, but did not leave with White in his limousine. Tony and Ziva are checking the alibis of all the folks we already identified. I have programmed a search engine to help us match these visitors to those who were in other clubs where our other victims were seen. But this could take some time, it's a large pool of suspects."

Just as he finished, Tim's computer made a beeping sound.

"Seems like we found something."

Gibbs walked around Tim's desk to see what his agent found while Tim pressed some buttons. The photo of a dark-haired girl appeared.

"Okay, we have one of the females. Sarah Goldman, sixteen. Previously convicted for drug abuse, currently lives in a home for teenage drug addicts."

"What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

"On your six, boss."

Hurriedly, Tim sent the address to his mobile and followed his boss to the elevator.

* * *

"Are you scared I might like one of your girlfriends more than you? Or are you scared your girlfriends might like me more than you?"

"Tony, are we really talking about my weekend plans again?"

Her partner just smiled while parking the car and kept on talking. "I know, both scenarios are pretty realistic. But what if I promise you to stay by your side for the whole night?"

"Like a guard cat? – No... like a watchdog!"

"No... Like a date!"

Ziva froze in her seat. She eyed her colleague warily and for a second she thought he looked sincere, but then there was his mesmerizing playboy smile again, and she turned away disinterestedly. "Then you would have successfully ruined my ladies' night, Tony. And I don't want to talk about that anymore."

She slammed the passenger door shut and headed towards the entrance of the small villa in front of them and pressed the door bell before Tony could catch up to her. After some footsteps she heard someone unlocking the door and opening it.

"Hello?"

"Good afternoon, Sir. NCIS. I'm Special Agent David and this here is my partner, Special Agent DiNozzo."

"Oh, the NCIS?"

The elderly man opened the door wider and let them in with a smile.

"I'm Agent Brown, from the FBI. Well, used to be. I'm already retired, but I guess you already knew that." He chuckled and led them to the living room.

The place was rather nice, Ziva decided, with old, but classic furniture, high walls and dark hardwood floor. A colourful carpet with ornaments lay below the small dark coffee table. It looked elegant and neat as the sun light was reflected from the clean wooden surfaces, but it would have looked cozier if the shelves weren't all empty.

After sitting down he ran his fingers through his short grey beard.

"So, how can I help you, gentlemen?"

"We have some questions regarding Tuesday night, two days ago. It is just a routine interview, if you don't mind." Tony watched the Ex-FBI agent as he gave the question a moment's thought. Then he raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, I was in that club! Uh, what was the name again...? Well, I forgot, but I know the drinks were half the price until midnight! Because it was half price Tuesday!"

"Half price Tuesday, huh?" Tony smiled dumbly at him, already fraternising with that guy, then at Ziva, who only rolled her eyes and took over. "Okay, and what time did you leave and where did you go then?"

"Well...", Agent Brown seemed to reflect again before he continued. "I left at midnight, because the drinks were double after that. And I already had enough to drink on that night, if you know what I mean. That's why I walked home."

"Could anyone confirm that?", Ziva followed up on his words although she already knew the answer.

"I don't think so, Agent David. I have no wife or something and I doubt someone saw me. But like I said, I was pretty drunk."

Ziva gave the man a reassuring smile. "I understand, Agent Brown. Thank you for your cooperation. We will see ourselves out."

After exchanging handshakes, both NCIS agents left the house and headed back to the headquarters. This time Ziva was driving, which told Tony that the brunette was brooding over something. After some quiet moments, she couldn't restrain herself.

"It's so sad, with Agent Brown."

Tony pulled his sunglasses up. "What do you mean? I think he's cool."

"What I mean, Tony? His solitary lifestyle!" She snorted as she concentrated on the road.

"He's alone, no wife, no kids. It's just him in this nice and shiny house, but no one he can share that place with." She jammed brutally on the brakes as the light ahead turned red.

"Just imagine ending up like that."

"That will never happen to you.", Tony stopped her with a wave of his hand while recovering from Ziva's driving style.

"How do you know that?", the brunette asked him irritated, but Tony just smiled straight ahead.

"Because you already have a family. A family that cares about you and really loves you. As a family.", he added quickly and turned to her to gauge her reaction. To Ziva's horror, she thought he caught her smiling.

"And now let's go home to grey papa fox!", he exclaimed cheerily, but made a face as the light turned green and Ziva started the car again. "And why exactly did I let you drive?"

* * *

Surprisingly, they found the bullpen empty.

"Hey! Where is everyone? Gibbs? McProbie?"

While Tony made a fool of himself, Ziva moved to Tim's computer that kept on beeping. She just pressed the enter button and suddenly a picture of the surveillance tape appeared, one of the women next to White was framed by a red square. Again, Ziva pressed enter and the file of a young woman appeared. "Tony! The computer identified one of the females."

"Alice Parker. Twenty seven. Not bad. What do you think, shall we call Gibbs or go ahead and question her?"

He turned to his partner, but Ziva just shook her head incredulously. "What's up, Probette?"

"Tony, look at her residence." She tapped her fingers impatiently on the desk before looking at the agent straight in his eyes.

"That's McGee's new neighbour."

An awkward silence stretched out.

Tony swallowed dryly.

"You call Gibbs."

* * *

"Room 412. That's the number the nurse gave us, boss."

Gibbs tried the handle and the door opened without resistance. The room was simply furnished and except of a NIN poster nothing pointed to the inhabitant. "Empty."

With a sour expression, the Ex-marine turned to his agent. "Then look outside!"

Hastily, Tim followed his command as Gibbs' mobile phone started to ring. Seriously, his boss seemed really pissed at him, but he just couldn't figure out why. Maybe he felt that Tim was not telling him something, but on the other hand, he doubted that Gibbs wanted to be informed about his private life. Sometimes he wished he was a bit more like Tony, because, even though annoying, the senior agent always seemed to get more responses out of Gibbs than Tim, with his blunt sarcastic approaches á la DiNozzo.

However, that simply wasn't Tim's style. He would probably do it like always, namely keep his mouth shut and wait it out.

Just as he was debating on what to say to Gibbs while walking the corridor, he noticed a young girl with short brown hair at the further end, stopping dead in her tracks. "Hey!"

He waved at her, but she already spun around, disappearing from his view.

"Wait! NCIS!", he exclaimed chasing after her, but as he expected, she just ran quicker, down the steps to the ground floor. He reached for his gun and followed her into the corridor below where the girl tried to hide behind a woman who just entered the building.

"NCIS! Don't move!"

Tim kept his gun outstretched in front of him while he moved closer. The visiting woman slowly turned to him – and Tim's stomach turned.

"Alice?"

"Tim? Why are you pointing a gun at my sister?!"

Hesitantly, Tim brought the gun down and turned around to see Gibbs standing there, his gun still pointing at Alice, his piercing eyes on his agent.

* * *

Thank you for your time! I was really really happy to get reviews... 3

The plot may be unrealistic in some situations since my knowledge of electronics and NCIS work routine is pretty much non-existent. But don't laugh yet, it will get worse. Wait till I upload the undercover part with those earpieces and bugs. Yeah.

Anyway, sorry for mistakes again. I am actually a real grammar freak and I just hate that I'm not perfect in English. Please bear with me.


	3. Chapter 3

The glass doors of the morgue slid open and Ducky lifted surprised his eyebrows. "To what do I owe the honour of your visit, Abigail?"

But Abby just strolled in, all the while clutching Bert, the hippo, hopped on the closest examination table to the body on which Ducky and Jimmy were currently working and simply watched them.

"What's with her?" Jimmy asked, worried and slightly anxious as the goth's silence was never a good sign.

"I guess she doesn't want to talk about it, Mr. Palmer. However, she is invited to join our little chit-chat with Mr. White here. This poor fellow never saw his end coming."

Abby sighed as White was definitely a topic she didn't plan to talk about when she came here, looking for company. She looked down at her stuffed animal, frowning. No, today Bert really disappointed her. Not even his cute mooing could lighten her mood up.

She was kind of awed by the guy. Not Bert, no, not the drug dealer either. She was talking about her superhero, the villain fighter, getting those douche bags, that even the FBI couldn't handle.

But then Ziva came over and told her that her superhero might be a super heroine, and no one else than McGee's new girlfriend.

And suddenly there was this strong little, "_Yeah! You're so cool! Kill those bad boys!_" screaming mini devil sitting on her left shoulder and that cute little, "_Timmy is our friend, we need to protect him!_" shouting mini angel sitting on her right one. And in the middle, there was Abby. An angry Abby. Or rather anxious. Or jealous?

Sighing she turned Bert around before pressing him back into her side, the soft moo sound echoing through the wide room. He wasn't helping, but he still was cute.

"Those are the bad guys, right, Ducky?" she asked the medical examiner who only gave her a short glance.

"Well yes, one would say so. However, their death is rather sad, don't you think?  
"Why? I don't mean that I like that people are getting killed, but... Ducky, he did bad stuff, right? He sold drugs. How many lives would have suffered if no one had stopped him?"

"_Stopping_ someone is different from _killing_him, I'd say." Ducky smiled wryly, but saw Abby's unhappiness with his answer. He paused for a moment before going back to work.

"Oh, Abigail, that's a dangerous calculation of yours. How many lives may be sacrificed for the sake of others?"

"I know that ethical conflict, we had a discussion about it in class one day!" Excited, Jimmy placed the scalpel down and looked to the ceiling, reminiscing.

"Imagine an airplane, holding hundred passengers, might crash into a building full of thousands of people. Would you bring down that plane and kill those hundred passengers in order to save thousands? Of course from a logical perspective I think hundred people cannot compare to thousands, so..."

He laughed lightly and got suddenly aware of the silence around him. A reprimanding look let him slump. "Sorry, Mr. Mallard."

"I think what Mr. Palmer is trying to say," Ducky eyed his assistant warily as if daring him to disagree, "is, that the grieve, that a person's death might cause, cannot be measured by the person's deeds. Everyone has family and friends. Killing is never a good think. It can be justified if done for the sake of other lives, but..."

He moved away from the table to the cold storage, absently looking over the small doors.

"But I think this crime is different. It's brutal, downright savage. The murderer didn't just kill White, but also his companions, young men and women. He wanted no survivors, no witnesses. And they were all killed very precisely."

"What are you trying to say?" Abby asked anxiously, squeezing Bert a bit tighter.

"What I'm trying to say is, this was no heroic feat. This was a mass execution."

Wide-eyed Abby jumped down from the table. That was what she had needed. She threw a quick glance to her left shoulder, seeing nothing. Greatly relieved she smiled at the examiners.

"Thank you, Ducky."

Ducky smiled at her retreating back as he heard her last words.

"I'm gonna give that bitch a proper talking!"

Staggered, Ducky turned to his assistant. "What have I done, Mr. Palmer?"

Jimmy shrugged and busied himself again, secretly happy that it was not him on the receiving end.

* * *

"Let me talk to her, boss."

"No can do. You know her personally."

"She is just a witness."

"We don't know that yet."

Gibbs tore his eyes away from the quiet young woman sitting at the table behind the glass and looked at his agent.

"They are the best suspects we currently have. Don't try to get involved."

With that Gibbs left Tim alone to observe, and entered the interrogation room. He slapped the door shut loudly before sitting down opposite to Alice, looking sternly at her. Bully-boy tactics, Tim noted.

However, Alice seemed barely impressed, staring back with indifferent grey eyes.

"Okay, Miss Parker. Tuesday night."

Alice's brows furrowed as she eyed Gibbs suspiciously.

"I want a lawyer."

"Alright, then I will keep you and your friend here for the night."

"No!" The blonde gave him a reproachful look before sighing and leaning back.

"I hate men with guns!" she hissed, but Gibbs just tilted his head lightly to the side.

Tim watched them from the safety of the observation room, but Alice's words made him tense up.

_I hate men with guns._

So that was it, huh.

He thought about their apartment, her vegetable gratin, their movie nights. All his simple fantasies now seemed childish and unrealistic. No matter if he still had a chance with that woman, he felt like the innocent charm between them was already gone.

After a short pause Alice started to recite, almost mechanically.

"Sarah grew up with me in an orphanage. She is a sister to me. But since she ran away two years ago, she has a problem with drugs. Met the wrong guys, you know." She paused a moment to see how Gibbs was taking the news. Tim couldn't see his face, but as Alice continued, he figured his boss must have looked somewhat trustworthy.

"She moved into the home for drug addicted youths about a year ago and she really got better. Until recently. The nurse called me and told me about Sarah's nightly excursions. I already figured that she was dealing for that bastard Larry again. That's why I followed her on Tuesday."

"What happened?"

Gibbs voice was softer, although Alice probably didn't hear the difference.

"I caught them. Larry slipped my sister money, no doubt trying to get her to do something for him. So I had a nice talk with Larry. Told him if he ever approached Sarah again, I would personally slice his balls off."

At her last words she raised her head up smugly, but Gibbs just opened the file on the table, letting a dead Larry White stare at her. "Or simply shoot him."

Alice's expression turned grave. "He's dead." It was not really a statement, but not a question either.

Gibbs leaned forward and watched her closely.

"You wore a wig. You kept your face hidden from the cameras so that nobody would recognize you. You didn't just plan to talk to him."

Alice now leaned closer to him, too. It left Tim feeling uneasy, watching her actions, calculating as if she had been in situations like these before.

"Yes, I did. You don't know Larry. He is a powerful man. He framed Sarah for the drug trafficking when she first met him. She was innocent, hadn't even touched that bag of cocaine. Larry just had to snap a finger, and that officer took her and locked her away. I wanted to make sure that he wouldn't find me. I told him I would drop a dime on him, that I had an audio tape of him talking all business. And it worked. He was shit scared, left with his gang."

Finally, she leaned back again and peered at the photo.

"But I'm really glad he's dead."

Gibbs watched her for some seconds before getting up and leaving the room. Tim followed him into the other observation room where Tony was watching Ziva interact with Sarah Goldman. Sarah was not as unaffected by the interrogation as her sister was, obviously, as she stared at the table in front of her with red puffy eyes.

"Sarah says she was there on Larry's invitation. He had a deal for her, but Alice, her uh, sister? She surprised them and threatened to rat on him to the cops. And something about castration." Tony shuddered visibly. "I explicitly overheard that part."

"Boss, let them go. They're innocent." Tim understood perfectly that he was pissing Gibbs off with his talk, but he wouldn't back off now. They both knew they had nothing to keep them here, much to Gibbs' chagrin.

His guts told him Alice knew more than she was letting on. She seemed too young, her poker face too forced, all in all, the tough girl act too staged for her to be a clinical killer. But he saw her look, jaded eyes that were telling him Alice Parker was a part of this puzzle. Gibbs just wasn't sure his agent could bear to solve it.

He frowned at Tim for an excruciatingly long moment. "They are free to go," he said solemnly before heading off to the elevator and shouted frustrated, „and we are back at the beginning."

* * *

As soon as his team had entered the elevator with Sarah and the doors had closed, Tim tried to explain.

"I'm really sorry for this mess." He wasn't sure which words to use, but _mess_seemed about right.

Alice huffed, but didn't speak at first. Then she suddenly turned to him and asked directly, "Did you just use me to get information about Larry? Or was Sarah the real target?"

"What?" He stared at her slack-jawed. "Why would I use you? Until today, I didn't even know that you, much less your sister, actually knew that guy! And let me remind you that you knocked on my door."

Alice turned away from him. His arguments made sense, still she couldn't shake off that feeling of betrayal.

"You never told me you were some sort of a Secret Agent." It sounded like a lame argument even to her own ears, but Tim just chuckled.

"I'm no Secret Agent, just a normal one. I never tell people. It's safer that way – or so I like to think."

He smiled tentatively at her. "Trust me?"

She chewed nervously on her lip, and Tim could see that the agent part was really difficult for her. For a moment, he thought she would reject him. Hell, she just knew him like what, two days? That alone reason enough to dismiss him. Living together as neighbours would become awkward, though. And just like that, she suddenly shrugged. "Okay."

"Really?" Tim smiled brightly. "Unless you want me to reconsider."

His smile fell and he quickly pushed her to the now returned elevator.

"Uh, nah, I'm fine..."

As they moved up to the bullpen, Alice couldn't hide her little smirk.

The elevator doors opened, and a startled shriek left Alice's mouth. Mere centimetres in front of her stood a tall goth girl staring her angrily down.

"Hey, Abbs. This is –"

"I know who that is, Timmy." She waved him off, not taking her eyes off of the small blonde.

"Listen, Alice," she started, spitting the name as if it was an insult in itself, "McGee is my really really good friend. And in case you plan to hurt my really really good friend, I wanted to let you know that I am a scientist, and I can murder you without leaving any forensic evidence."

The whole bullpen went quiet as everyone waited for Alice's answer or at least the chattering of her teeth. Tim thought about stepping up for his new friend, because she didn't know how Abby meant it (though he didn't know either), but if he did that, he saw no chance for Alice to ever get along with his friend.

After contemplating Abby's threat, Alice answered with a surprisingly calm voice.

"I can do that, too. I'm a cleaner."

With that she maneuvered around a gaping Abby. As no one seemed to move, she turned around to face Tim. "You coming?"

Eventually, Tim unfroze and sneaked around his confused looking goth friend to join Alice on her way to their desks. Sarah was sitting in an office chair and was still shaken by the news of Larry's death. Alice wanted to hug and comfort her, but since her little sister was still angry at her for following her around secretly, she didn't really know what to say. She was definitely not going to apologize for that, but Sarah was also unlikely to approach her big sister for forgiveness. So they probably would play tough girls again until they lived it down.

In the end, Alice settled leaning against the desk where from she could see all members of the team.

"Can we go now?"

She aimed her question at Gibbs as everyone addressed him as boss, but Tim was quicker.

"Sure! Uh, you just have to sign this..." He moved to his desk and touched the mouse accidentally as the large screen flickered on showing a profile of Alice herself.

"Oh! ... Sorry." He quickly kicked the image away, but Alice had already averted her eyes, examining the papers on Gibbs' desk. Suddenly, she focused her attention on something in particular and Gibbs followed her stare. He picked up the FBI criminal list with the crossed names and held it up to her.

"Ever seen this?"

"No.", Alice said, her gaze fixed on Gibbs.

"...Okay." He let the list drop and caught the blonde's eyes following it quickly, but then shooting back up to his face.

Tim ignored the awkward exchange and held a document up for her to sign.

"Can we go now?" Alice asked again and Tim just wanted to pick up his keys as Gibbs answered. "Agent DiNozzo and Agent David will drive you back."

Tim was not happy about his boss' decision, but he knew arguing with Gibbs was futile. Just as Tony and Ziva had left with Alice and Sarah, Gibbs picked the FBI list up again and banged it on Tim's desk.

"What did she see?"

"I don't know."

"Then find out!"

Gibbs was mad as hell. There was something shady going on in front of his own eyes, but he couldn't put his finger on what exactly it was.

He frowned exasperated before sitting down in his chair.

"Gibbs is right," tuned Abby in who had just moved to them as Alice had disappeared. "Something about her is fishy. She wasn't serious about that part with being a cleaner, was she?"

Tim was really getting irritated at all the mistrust his supposed family showed his new friend.

"She is a cleaner, so what Abby?" Gibbs looked up at his words, but remained silent.

"McGeeeeee!" Now Abby was getting annoying. "Cleaner is a code word. For Professional. Assassin. Hit man. Don't you get it? She's probably the killer we're searching for!"

"She cleans apartments, Abbs, not people."

"Did she say that?"

"What's there to say? It's self-evident!"

"Don't be foolish-"

"Stop this pissing match!"

This time Gibbs even made Abby cringe.

"I just want to save him from disappointment." she pouted and Gibbs sighed.

"First we gotta save these guys from a killer."

Tim who was staring grimly at the criminal list, suddenly had an idea. Gibbs was right; the killer had acted according to this list. Maybe if there was a system in it, they might be able to say who the next victim would be...

"That's it, boss."

Gibbs looked up hopefully as Tim grabbed the paper and sprinted to his boss' desk. "The victims were not picked randomly. They are all involved in either prostitution or the drug business. That leaves..." he scanned hastily over the list, marking names here and there, "eighteen victims. If we assume a starting point in the north, that means that victim number one was the closest. Then he moved down and concentrated his operations around this area. So if we expect him to keep up his pattern, the next victim... could be one of these three guys. They are all active around here according to this list."

"Now you just have to find out what clubs and bars these guys visit and keep shadowing them! The victims will lead you to the killer!" Abby jumped excitedly, all the drama forgotten as the information sank in.

"Seems like you've got work to do." Gibbs assumed and watched the two dash into the lab.

* * *

„I hope you found something good for calling me over this late."

The second Agent Fornell stepped out of the elevator, he was received by the smug faces of the whole team. He looked around carefully as if he might miss something, but then decided to step closer.

Still, he was on edge witnessing the agents exchanging glances. "... What?!"

"Tell him, McGee." Gibbs sounded really proud, which was the biggest complement Tim earned from him in a long time. Therefore, he happily shared his fun with someone who enjoyed talking more than him.

"Abby can do that."

The scientist smiled pleasantly surprised and started her speech without fuss.

"Okay. So we first investigated Larry White and his minions, but we found no evident forensic trace of the killer. Ducky found out that the killer must have shot from a wide range, and therefore, it was possible that the killer had left nothing on the dead bodies. But Jimmy found DNA from various people on the bodies, and I got a glycol mix on White's suit, so we figured out he had to have been in a club and – bingo! All of our victims often visited clubs. We investigated all customers, but that turned out to be useless as we couldn't identify a suspicious person without an alibi.

That's when we had to start from the beginning and take a closer look at our sources. And Agent McGee here realised that the victims were not accidental, but that our killer was moving in a pattern, namely just attacking the bad boys from drug and prostitution cases, from north to south. And finally, we were able to identify two possible victims. The third guy already was arrested. So victim number seven could be Victor Stein or... Benjamin Theodore Grey."

With that the photos of two criminals appeared on the screen, one elder man, dark-haired with a moustache, and the other one younger, short brown hair, shaven.

"Wow." Fornell's mouth gaped open while he still tried to grasp the results of this investigation.

"So you're telling me one of those guys is the next? Uh... that's great information, only... those guys operate in the dark. It's not that easy to get them. I can't catch them without evident proof, and I doubt they will help us catch the killer of criminals anyway."

"The theory of meeting in a club might not apply to our killer, but we might be able to find the potential victims this way. These guys only frequent in noble clubs, so there shouldn't be too many places," explained Ziva and Tony nodded. "This means we just have to wait for them to appear; we bug them when they're not looking and then just follow them around until something happens."

At that Fornell furrowed his eyebrows. "And with we you mean...?"

"Oh! Of course the NCIS doesn't have neither the funds nor the human resources for such a task, but I think the FBI would enjoy some spy games! Too bad we can't help..."

Fornell nodded appreciatively as Ziva suddenly jumped up. "Although, actually we could help you tomorrow." She looked expectantly at Abby who bobbed her head all too eagerly.

"Ohh! You're right, Ziva! We can help you tomorrow! We'll be in Club Koi!"

"The girls have a ladies' night." Tony explained. "Finally we guys have a reason to join you. Am I right, Probie?"

"Sure." Tim replied, but was a bit surprised by Abby's moan. "Guys, you can come if you want, but seriously, how do you want to get into Club Koi? We ladies have a reservation with all our names since three months and tomorrow is Saturday. They are never gonna let you in."

"You see, Agent Fornell, my team has a great opportunity to assist you FBI guys tomorrow. That's, if you have no problem with that." Gibbs' steady gaze waited for Fornell's answer, but the FBI Agent looked around suspiciously. Gibbs' team was definitely hiding something, but unless he figured that out, he had no reason to deny them. And their arguments seemed valid.

"I guess it's okay. But only tomorrow night in this one club. What's its name? Koi?"

Gibbs smirked and watched Fornell sighing and finally retreating into the elevator.

"You think he smelled the rat, boss?" Tony asked in a whisper, eyes still glued to the closing elevator doors.

"Of course. But nothing he can do about that now."

Abby giggled as she jumped from one foot on the other. "Drinks with the girls and a secret undercover mission! Best Saturday!"

"How are the chances that these two gangsters will come tomorrow, anyway?" Ziva asked Tim.

"I hacked into the security tape online storage of the club. They showed Stein or Grey visiting the club frequently on Saturdays. But I can't promise they'll be there."

"I guess we will find out." Everyone turned to Gibbs.

"Gibbs! You coming, too?" Abby asked incredulously, earning a bewildered look from Gibbs. "Why not? It's work."

"Oh, that will be one big party!" Tony grinned from ear to ear.

"Uh-huh. That is, if you'll get in." teased Ziva, but even that couldn't ruin Tony's mood.

"Challenge accepted! We're gonna get that villain killer!_ It's not the Wild West anymore, you can't just clean up the streets with a gun, even though sometimes, that's exactly what's needed_! Such a great movie... anyone? No? ...oh c'mon, guys! _Shooter_! With Mark Wahlberg!"

Involuntarily Tim thought of her. Alice, the _cleaner_.

* * *

Thank you for your time! A comment would be appreciated, I'd really like to know what you guys think.


	4. Chapter 4

It was almost one in the morning when Tim stood in front of Alice's apartment, but the soft buzzing sound behind the door told him that she was still awake. He knocked once and than a second time, louder, when suddenly the door opened.

"Hey! Uh... what you doing?"

Flatly the blonde lifted the vacuum cleaner she had been dragging behind her and Tim shook his head, smiling fondly at her.

"You always cleaning after midnight?"

She couldn't suppress a smile and finally turned off the vacuum, stepping aside to let him in.

Tim moved to sit on the couch where he had spent the evening talking with Alice the first time they had met. Her apartment still looked the same, sparsely furnished, but very colourful. He stared at her small TV while Alice brought him a glass of tea and settled next to him. His big flat screen would fit here perfectly, he realized, and the cheesy image of them watching horror movies together while snuggling on the couch flashed behind his eyes.

"I imagined how it would be like.", he confessed spontaneously for lack of better words. "To be with you, you know, together." he added when she raised her eyebrows. Understanding dawned as she followed his eyes. "Like... sharing an apartment?"

He nodded in thought. "With your cooking..."

"... and your TV..."

"... and walking Jethro together..."

"... and breakfast in bed."

At that Tim looked up smiling. "That would be great."

"Uh-huh." she grinned cheekily. Slowly the mood changed.

Tim felt foolish for those imaginations. They had both crossed the line from innocent to complicated when his job got involved and right now he just couldn't see this future plan happen.

He moved his gaze from the glass of tea in his hands up to meet Alice's blank face. But those pale grey orbs told another story. They just looked incredibly sad as her mouth opened to speak.

"Look, I just want to be happy. I want someone who can be happy with me. I've had enough drama."

While Alice turned him down, Tim thought about how they both ironically wanted the same, something stable, something happy, just someone, but yet didn't seem to match. Alice definitely hadn't expected him to be an NCIS agent. Maybe she would have brushed him off right from the beginning if she had known.

But still, she had said that she trusted him.

Still, she had opened the door for him.

So, while her mouth was telling him to leave, he could only see those eyes begging him to stay. And damn, he wanted to. He didn't mind the trouble, he realized, not really, because although those future fantasies were cheesy, one aspect in them was not, and that was the woman sitting right next to him.

Tim put the glass down and looked at Alice with a new determination, cutting her words off.

"I know, okay, I know, this is not as easy as we hoped it'd be, but... I really wanna give it a try."

She eyed him warily, not sure how to judge his words. "Why?"

"... Because it's you."

Even to his own ears his answer sounded shallow, but he really didn't have much to offer, they never even had a date. Nevertheless Tim felt like he got a little glimpse into her personality in a way that a normal date never could. And he really liked what he had seen.

"You're nice, funny, strong and you care for your family as deeply as I do for mine."

Just when her face lit up with a tentative smile, Tim's voice became serious.

"This is why I have to ask you this. Do you have anything to do with those murders?"

She flinched from his words and sighed.

"No, I don't. You told me to trust you. Now you have to trust me."

"I do. But I really need to know this. I need to keep my family safe. Why did you recognize the FBI criminal list?"

She looked around with a grim expression, stubbornly avoiding to look at him.

"I need to keep my family safe, too, Tim. I need my job."

"What job is this, Alice? What exactly do mean when you say you're a cleaner?"

Suddenly she jumped up and seemed torn between talking and remaining silent. Then she moved to the door and Tim thought she had chosen the latter. When he stepped out into the corridor, she grabbed his sleeve.

"Be safe."

Her eyes looked passed him, but he still saw the concern.

"You, too."

Then the door shut.

* * *

After the second knock Tim opened the door and Ziva glanced up to him. "You wanna grab a bite?"

He was surprised to find those attentive eyes on him this Saturday afternoon, watching him like a hawk, and he knew she wanted more than just eat.

When Gibbs' had this scrutinizing look, it would always scare him a bit, but with his mossad agent he simply felt reassured. She was Gibbs' girl through an through, no doubt, however, the sensitive trait in her personality gave her words an almost sisterly tenderness.

"How about Chinese around your corner?"

"Uh, not Chinese..." A nervous chuckle escaped his throat. "I'd rather go for a hot dog in the park. I need to walk Jethro."

Ziva smiled and moved past him, patting Jethro briefly on the head and sitting down, waiting for Tim to get ready.

* * *

"Oh my god, right?! I swear I wanted to go for Gibbs' throat so badly this week!"

Grinning Tim shook his head. "Hell no! I thought more about how to get more distance between him and me. You were on the road with Tony the most time, but I was always there with the boss! Seriously, I was running out of hiding places."

Ziva laughed so hard she almost choked on her bite. "Let me guess, Abby's lab?"

Nodding he took the next bite of his hot dog. "Yeah, but Gibbs' love for Abby has limits, too, I think. Yesterday he snapped at both of us."

His team mate got wide-eyed before shaking her head dismissively. "Bet she's not used to that. You got really powered up, though, figuring out the next victim and where we will find him and so on."

"Yeah, guess that's the effect Gibbs has on me. But I cannot believe that we had the lead lying on our desks in front of us the whole time. I never thought about taking a closer look at the FBI list."

It got quiet while they kept walking. Jethro stilled as he saw something in a bush and the two agents stood watching him.

"Did you ask her about the list?" Ziva finally asked tentatively and Tim sighed. That's what he had waited for. "Yeah."

"She didn't tell you?"

"No, but I know that she has nothing to do with the killings. She told me that and I believe her."

Ziva nodded absently, then looked at him. "But you also know that she is hiding something."

"... thing is, if she wasn't so hostile to criminals, I would think she actually knows who our killer might be."

"Hostile?"

"Well, uh, yeah." Tim chuckled a bit as he remembered. "She asked me if I was a gangster. Because I don't talk about my job and I have this Porsche that I bought with the money from my book sales. So glad she hadn't seen my gun, though. Bet she would have fled in terror."

"Tim McGee a gangster...", Ziva joked and Tim nudged her with his elbow.

"But it would fit to the superhero complex our killer supposedly has."

Tim just waved his hand. "No, she wants to stay away from them, not kill them."

"Hmm..."

Ziva sat down on a bench and Tim followed her, both enjoying the view of the green park, children playing, couples holding hands.

"You really like her." she stated like it was a fact. Tim really couldn't add anything to that.

"Yeah."

"Okay, Tim. I believe you that she's innocent. And therefore I oppose Abby's theory of Alice being a cold-hearted, manipulative sniper."

"Abby said that?"

The brunette grinned widely, ignoring the terror on Tim's face. "Yeah, but you know Abby. She still thinks you're clinging to her."

Tim thought about that. Somehow he also believed that. Ziva saw the insecurity mirrored in his eyes.

"It's working in both ways, I think. Abby likes to keep you close, too."

"We're just keeping each other safe.", Tim protested lightly. He wanted to think of Abby and him as buddies. He didn't like the idea of interdependence between them. Abby had ended their relationship, so obviously he was the dependent one. Abby didn't depend on him, right?

"You really do not realize how much she _wants_ you to cling to her, do you?"

He simply didn't want her to, he realized. Clinging to Abby meant, that only he could get hurt. But Abby wanting Tim to cling to her meant, that she could also get hurt. He didn't like that idea. But by the way Abby behaved towards Alice, it seemed like she definitely did mind him turning away.

"You're probably right."

Ziva smiled, obviously proud that she could make her point clear. "Don't worry, Abby'll get used to it. So, how do you plan on getting access into Club Koi tonight?"

It seemed like the topic just got interesting to Ziva, but Tim just shrugged indifferently.

"I called them yesterday and let them put my name on the guest list."

Her big brown eyes stared at him. "How did you do that?"

Her partner blushed slightly and explained slyly: "I can't. But Thom E. Gemcity can."

"...Richt." She couldn't decide between being irritated or in awe and finally settled for a big grin.

"Have you decided on what to wear yet?"

"I just thought the usual stuff, you know."

"Oh no." The brunette got up from the bench and pulled her colleague up, leading the way back to his apartment.

"That's a really big event there tonight, a lot of famous people will be there. You have got to...uh.. ah, - look your part! You know, because it's an undercover mission and you have to fit in with the other people."

"Okay, what do you want, Ziva?"

She stilled and looked at him with a sour expression.

"You need to help me find a dress."

"Abby told me you've already prepared everything a month ago." he noted with raised brows.

"Yes, but then I didn't know that all you guys were coming, too!"

Finally it sank in and a wide grin spread on his face.

"Stop it, McGee. I just need the opinion of a man."

"Okay. I'll help." Tim gave in and they both went back to his apartment dropping Jethro off before going on a shopping trip. After two hours Ziva had found the perfect dress. Tim was speechless.

"Tim, you didn't tell them to put Tony's name on the list, did you?"

"Nope."

Ziva smiled before turning a last time in front of the mirror.

"Excellent."

That woman was clever. In the worst scenario Tony would only watch her retreating back entering the club, and Ziva made sure that he could at least really enjoy that view.

* * *

"There! I see Abby!"

Ziva waved to a group of woman standing at the side of the entrance. Tim and she had to press through the crowd to reach them, but due to a tall girl dressed in black, they were rather easy to find. "McGee! Ziva! - Ohh, wow! Oh my god, look at you! You look amazing! Didn't you say you didn't want to dress up?"

Tim grinned at that and Ziva shot him warning glare while fastening up her coat.

"Thank you, Abby, yes, but I just had this lying around in my wardrobe. You are also very... eye-catching." This Ziva got right. Abby looked like a gothic geisha with her black, kimono inspired dress. Her hair was done in two big buns, decorated with dark flowers. Her face was paler than usually and the black make up a bit heavier, but Tim couldn't get a close look as Abby kept fanning herself air with a black Uchiwa.

"Ladies, and this is my partner from work, Tim." At Ziva's words the small group of women started to smile brightly and a high-pitched "Hi!" followed with a subsequent giggle.

"Where are the others?" Ziva asked and looked around.

"Don't worry, Tony said he would be late." Abby grinned, but Ziva just rolled her eyes.

"I didn't mean Tony. I meant Gibbs."

"Here I am."

The whole group turned towards the voice and there stood a surprisingly casually looking Gibbs.

"Gibbs!" voiced Abby, "you look.. normal. Like always."

"I know." he answered ignoring her disappointment. He looked impatiently at her, then at Ziva, then at the curiously waiting group of women behind them.

"Oh!" Ziva turned to look at her friends. "Ladies, we just need a minute. You can go inside, we'll come right after you."

The women seemed a bit disappointed for being uninvited so harshly, but waved at Tim and Gibbs before heading to the entrance.

Gibbs pulled a package out of his jacket and showed them various little button-sized gadgets. "Here, presents from Agent Fornell. I want you to keep this in your ear the whole evening. This part here is the microphone, put it somewhere so you can speak into it when something happens. And this here is a little sensor. If you see Stein or Grey, try to bug him. But don't forget to lie low. We still don't know who the killer is. Maybe he will join us tonight. So be careful... Where is DiNozzo?"

"On your six, boss!"

Gibbs stepped aside and a wide grinning Tony closed the circle. "Hey guys."

Everyone looked at his black dress pants, the white shirt, the blue jacket and black bow tie.

"I'm a modern version of James Bond. What do you think?" he asked in a confident voice and tried a model pose.

"You look like that South Korean guy riding invisible horses.", Abby noticed and turned to Tim.

"McGee, did I mention that you look really nice tonight?" She smiled appreciatively at his tailored suit and he smiled back.

"Ah, c'mon guys! This is cool! What's nice about McTedious in a boring black suit?"

"Thank you, Abby." Tim answered her nonchalantly, all the while smiling at Tony.

"Okay, enough, kids." Gibbs let the last gadget set drop into Tony's jacket and offered Abby his arm. „Let's go."

* * *

Just a short chapter this time, the next will be longer. :) Thank you for reading and for your reviews!


	5. Chapter 5

Club Koi was famous for its parties, especially the Japanese themed Saturdays at the end of every month. Colourful lights illuminated the large glass front. Periodically, neon lights flashed from somewhere inside through the glass walls to the outside, showing the contours of three floors full of people dancing, not caring if seen by the waiting masses outside. The most people were waiting behind a separating barrier while the broad entrance way was free for invited guests. The people around Tim were dressed so freakishly that he really felt boring in his suit. The bizarre scene reminded him of a movie where the high school geek suddenly was allowed to go with the high school princess to prom. At the entrance, the agents got the chance to observe a ridiculous exchange between Gibbs and two asian employees dressed skimpily in wide pants and a half transparent red vest.

"Name please?" asked the slightly taller one who was still a head shorter than Gibbs.

"This enough?" Gibbs asked grumpily and motioned towards his belt where his gun and his batch were fixed. "NCIS."

"Oh... you're an officer..." the shorter employee noticed, speaking with a slight accent. He leaned forward, suggestively looking at the badge.

"I think he is looking at your other gun." Tony grinned and Gibbs shot him an evil glare.

"Okay, you can go inside. _Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs_." the small guy spat the last words at Tony, proving that he had definitely read the badge.

Abby had the other employee look up her name and now disappeared inside with Gibbs. Tony rolled his eyes. "That was easy."

He moved behind Gibbs, but the short guy stopped him. "Name please."

"No, I'm an agent, too. Special Agent DiNozzo, NCIS, you can write that down."

"Sure you are." the employee smirked and looked at his colleague, mockingly gesturing as if cutting a person's throat with his hand.

"No, really, I don't have my badge because we are here undercover –"

"Tony!" Ziva nudged him in his ribs, huffing indignantly.

Tim walked to the taller employee since he wanted to leave Ziva her big moment.

"You are not with him?" the short one asked Tony again and gestured towards Tim. Tony only started to laugh. "Hell, no! That's my Probie! McGeek!" He snorted snarkily just as the taller employee screamed excitedly.

"Oh my gosh, Thom E. Gemcity! It is such an honour to meet you!"

Tony's smile fell as Tim asked the employee to keep his identity a secret, promising to give him a sign later. He moved past the two employees, but did not quite enter the club as he waited to see Ziva's big scene.

"I guess I will have to pass as your partner." Tony looked at Ziva with a smile that was just not quite reaching his eyes, showing his insecurity.

"Well, I would have taken you with me, Tony, if you only had complimented me earlier."

Consequently, Tony regarded Ziva's appearance. She had make up on, her hair was in a tight ponytail at the top of her head, brilliantly sparkling creoles dangling from her ears. There was not much to be seen behind the black coat. He saw high black stilettos, which was definitely nice, but not worth mentioning now, right?

So he let his gaze move up her long legs to the hem of something that could be a tight purple dress. But he couldn't be expected to compliment her on a dress he hadn't seen yet, right?

Baffled he looked up to her face again to find her dark-brown eyes watching him.

She raised an eyebrow expectantly, daring him to say something while he got lost in her gaze. Her cheeky grin vanished as Tony heaved a shaky sigh.

"You look stunning, Ziva... as always."

His eyes flicked to her lips and back up, all the while an adoring half-smile on his lips.

Ziva stared searchingly at his hazel eyes as if looking long enough would give her the answer to how sincere Tony DiNozzo was in that very moment.

Suddenly, the noise in the background went up again, and she looked around, realizing that they were both blocking the entry way. Tony started to laugh and threw an arm around her shoulders, turning to the entrance. "You should have seen your face! My oh so serious Israeli partner!" Chuckling he pressed her closer to the annoying employee. "I'm with her."

Ziva broke away from his hands and smiled at the short guy. "He's not."

He returned the smile, immediately fraternizing with her. "Name please?"

"Ziva David."

"What?" Tony's eyes jumped between his partner and the Asian guy.

"You said you could get in here without my help.", Ziva stated and Tony huffed.

"Of course I can."

She leaned closer to him, making him slightly twitch.

"Show me."

With that the brunette agent unfastened her coat that revealed a beautiful purple dress, hugging her at all the right places. However, her partner didn't even see the highlight yet.

"See you inside, Tony."

She brushed him lightly as she turned around and heard him gasp. His eyes followed her creamy skin down her muscular back, exposed by her revealing neck-holder dress. Just where her bottom half started, the dress closed with a ruffling, nicely accentuating her backside.

Then she strut passed the also staring employees to Tim, who was enjoying his very own view.

"Is he looking?" Ziva asked him low voiced, and Tim's grin grew bigger.

"Looking? I'd say his eyes are undressing you, Ziva. See for yourself."

"No, that's too embarrassing!" Tim saw panic in her eyes. That was new.

"Okay, he's stopped looking anyway."

"Really?" Reflexively she turned around and caught the eyes of Tony resting on her, showing nothing but pure awe, and a sweet smile playing around the corners of his mouth.

Tim's chuckle pulled Ziva out of her thoughts. She quickly turned back to him after clearing her throat and took his offered arm gratefully to enter the club.

* * *

Tim felt his whole body vibrate under the pulsing beat. Although only a fraction of the people in front of Club Koi was allowed inside, it looked like this place couldn't be more crowded.

"I'll go to the second floor with the girls!" he heard Ziva's voice in his ear and turned around to look at her. She was grinning smugly while pointing at her cleavage where she had hidden her micro. Then she disappeared in the crowd leaving Tim squeezed somewhere in the entry hall. The tension left him as he reached the bar where Gibbs was fumbling with his collar.

"Uh, boss, what –"

"McGee!" he exclaimed as he saw the younger agent. "This thing isn't working!"

The man didn't even seem to realize how he scared the women around him away with his attitude. He lifted up his hand showing McGee the supposedly not working microphone.

"Boss, that's the bug." Gibbs searched his eyes for a hint of humour while touching for the other piece in his jacket pocket. "Dammit. They all look the same." After some further fumbling, he had the micro attached to his collar. "You guys hear me?" Tim heard him ask in his ear. "Heey, Gibbs!" Abby's replied cheerily . "Loud and clear, boss." Tony joined in.

Tim leaned down as if looking at his watch while checking his own micro. "Yeah."

"Yes." That was Ziva's voice. "By the way, when do you plan on joining us, Tony?"

"Give me ten minutes. Over and out." Tony's replied confidently, then he tuned out.

"Any bets?" Abby's voice giggled, but Gibbs' dark grumble made her stop. "Okay, okay. Ziva and I are on the second floor. Someone should check the third floor."

"I'll go." Tim said and looked at Gibbs. "Good. I'll stay here on the first floor." he replied. At that Tim turned around and headed for the stairs.

It seemed like every floor, though based on the Japanese theme, was arranged in an own music and colour style. On the first floor gold and red tones dominated the rooms while jazz music floated from the lounge. The second floor had a darker theme in black with occasional pink accentuations. Tim couldn't see Abby or Ziva, but since the rock music was definitely Abby's taste, they were probably dancing somewhere on the big dance floor.

When Tim reached the third floor, the shiny white walls blinded him first. This floor was the opposite to the one below, futuristically arranged in white with some neon green.

Tim stepped through the hallway first looking for the bar. He sat down, ordering a coke while letting his eyes drift over the crowd. Light electronic melodies floated in the air while the ground was shaking rhythmically. The corner booths were packed just like the dance floor, people dancing to pop music like only one moving unit.

"Hey."

First Tim thought he heard the voice through his earpiece, trying to figure out if it was Abby or Ziva. But then he saw blonde hair, pale skin, grey eyes.

* * *

"Abby, I'll go look for Gibbs."

"Huh?"

"I said! I'll go look for Gibbs!"

Gothic geisha Abby stopped jumping to the rock music for a second and nodded at Ziva. The brunette waved a good-bye to her friends and left the dance floor. She stopped at the foot of the stairs when she spotted Gibbs at the bar chatting with a woman. He seemed distracted, talking, but Ziva didn't miss his glances in her direction and smiled. Gibbs was definitely good at undercover work.

"Looking for someone, beautiful?"

She flinched at the voice so close to her ear and turned around to look at Tony. He had a pleased grin on his face and touched her hips so that he could hold her closer to him. "Did you miss me?"

"You said ten minutes. It's been twenty!" Ziva answered him indirectly while averting her gaze back to the crowd. "So, how did you do it?"

As Tony went quiet, she looked at him again, expectantly. He made a face and very reluctantly nodded to the crowd. Ziva followed his movement and spotted a small elderly woman with a crazy glitter hat, waving at Tony before blowing him a kiss. Ziva snorted with laughter. Tony faked a smile as he waved her back tentatively, then faced Ziva pleadingly.

"Please hide me."

She smiled as she let her hand drop in her cleavage. Tony followed her hand saucer-eyed and leaned closer just as Ziva's startling loud voice announced in her earpiece: "Hey Gibbs! Tony and I are gonna check the basement."

"Ohh! The basement! Have fun guys!" Abby's voice suggested cheerily.

"What's in the basement?" Tony asked while his partner turned off her micro.

"Don't know, haven't been there yet." She grabbed his arm and pulled him along. "Let's find out."

Just as they opened the door to the basement floor, Gibbs' voice piped up.

"Get ready for work. Benjamin Grey just entered the building."

* * *

"What's up?"

Alice eyed him questioningly, but Tim just shook his head. He couldn't really tell her that the potential next victim just entered the club when the potential killer was sitting right next to him. He didn't want to believe that Alice was really murdering those guys, but damn, she made it very hard for him to trust her.

"So you really don't want to tell me what you're doing here."

"I told you, I came to dance. It's a club."

Tim couldn't take his eyes off her as he watched her drinking her cocktail through a green straw while playing around with her bracelet made of white glass pearls.

He almost hadn't recognised her, that's how different she looked.

Her blonde hair was artistically curled up on the sides, her straight fringe now swept to the side in a smooth wave. Dark make up around doe eyes made the grey orbs look even brighter. But he liked her lips the most as they were still a natural pale pink.

He wanted to rub his thumb over her bottom lip and see if it still felt as soft as he remembered. He wanted to kiss her until those lips turned a rich shade of pink like the cocktail she was drinking.

Frustrated he tore his gaze away from her and her short white tulle dress that made her look ridiculously innocent and sexy at the same time. She even acted differently, talking to him playfully as if she hadn't kicked him out of her apartment last night.

"Grey just passed the second floor. I repeat, he's now on the third floor, McGee."

As he processed Abby's words, his eyes quickly focused on the entrance where people entered and left the room. Alice sensed his tension and turned the same direction, but just as a brunette man appeared in the doorway, Tim's hand dashed forward, clasping Alice's smaller one.

"Okay, Alice...I think it's time you put your cards on the table." He stared intently at her, ignoring the figure that moved over the dance floor. A hint of doubt crossed Alice's face and she seemed to struggle against something.

"I just want to make sure..."

"What?"

Deep in thoughts she glanced around as if searching for the right words when she froze.

"That's the next victim." she said monotonously and Tim's head jerked in the direction she was fixating. Unquestionably she was staring at Benjamin Grey, sitting now in the far corner booth between two women, surrounded by bodyguards. Tim looked back at Alice.

"Perhaps. Will you kill him?" he asked with a gruff voice just to provoke her and even to himself he sounded like Gibbs. Although he regretted his words as soon as he had said them, he held Alice's angry gaze.

Time stood still as Tim tried to decipher this puzzling woman in front of him when Gibbs' voice startled him.

"McGee, report! What's going on?"

Hurriedly he pressed on the micro on his collar. "He's here, sitting in a booth with his entourage. I don't know if I can get close enough, though."

"Close enough for what?", asked Alice as she leaned over, taking notice of the small black device on Tim's collar.

"McGee, who's there with you?", asked Gibbs' voice irritated, but Tim was preoccupied holding his grim mask on Alice.

"To bug him."

The blonde watched him narrowly, then turned to Benjamin Grey. She shrugged.

"I can do that."

"No you can't."

She leaned forward, her lips touching his ear, her hand slipping into his jacket and then lifting a small black device in front of his eyes.

"Watch me."

And Tim did watch her leave the bar and move to the dance floor with hips slightly swinging in that puffy tulle dress, the movement slowly getting more and more intense as she reached the centre.

"McGee, damn it! Talk to me!" Gibbs' voice sounded furious and Tim remembered again where he was.

"Uh, boss? Alice, she... she is here."

The answer came immediately.

"I'm coming."

* * *

"Sounds like Probie's bringing trouble.", Tony joked, desperately trying to hide his nervousness for the umpteenth time since realizing that the basement was nothing else than a love grotto.

The walls were a dark blue, almost black, and thousands of small lights gave the illusion of a night sky. There was a very small dance floor, the most room was taken up by seating furnitures. Most people were sitting and lying around, curtains hiding their faces, but leaving otherwise scarcely anything to the imagination.

Tony really tried to be professional as Ziva and he were sitting in a corner booth, the curtains drawn to the side so that they could observe the people around them. But what made it really hard was the soft lounge music floating in the air, sexy trance tunes playing around his ear. Oh, and the hot Israeli chick sitting right next to him in a very, very revealing dress.

"I hope McGee is alright." was Ziva's distracted reply.

Tony watched her closely. "You really don't think this is awkward." he realized, almost disappointed. Her eyes that were just scanning the crowd focused on him. "It is! I have no idea how to identify Stein if he comes here. Maybe he's already sitting somewhere, but we can't see his face because of those stupid curtains!"

Deeply unhappy with her answer Tony sighed and started to copy her behaviour, scanning the moving shadows in the room.

Meanwhile Ziva was happy she could cover up her embarrassment. Did Tony seriously think she wouldn't see how he looked at her? She was a pro!

"I'll get us something to drink." he told her nonchalantly and stood up, carefully trying not to trip over the cushions lying around everywhere, and headed for the bar. Ziva followed his steps and couldn't suppress a sigh. In the end, this really felt like a date.

"Excuse me, sweetheart, would you mind some company?" a coarse voice asked her and Ziva's eyes shot up to meet a familiar face. Dark hair and a scruffy beard framed his face, a lopsided sneer on his lips.

"Hey, dude. She's with me. Nice moustache, by the way." Tony's voice interrupted their silent stare and Ziva realized that she heard Tony's voice in real and from her earpiece. He put their drinks down in front of them just as Gibbs' voice answered. "Moustache? DiNozzo, David, is Stein with you right now?"

Ziva took her glas and nipped at the drink. Apple juice with ice, she realized. Clever, Tony.

"Hmm. You're _right_, honey, this _really is_ good."

"Understood." Gibbs replied through the earpiece.

"So, you two a couple, huh." Stein said amused, his eyes still resting on Ziva. "Well, I don't mind."

Tony cleared his throat and put a hand on Stein's shoulder.

"She's my girl." he whispered, but it sounded more like a threat.

With bulging eyes Ziva witnessed their not so subtle staring contest before Stein snorted. "Call me if you need a real man." he said a last time looking at Ziva, throwing a card on the table and turned to leave.

"What an ass." Tony growled looking at the card. Only a number was written on it, nothing indicating that Victor Stein was actually involved in girl trafficking.

"Did you bug him?" Gibbs' voice asked and Tony affirmed. "I let it drop into the breast pocket of his jacket."

"Tony."

The agent looked at the brunette who was staring straight at him.

"Don't turn around. He's watching us. Laugh as if I told a joke."

Tony forced a chuckle out of his throat and grabbed his drink. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw him. Victor Stein was just sitting in the booth across from them, drinking something with two girls who seemed far too young, his gaze still on them.

"I think you just got a new fan, _sweetheart_.", Tony announced with a bitter edge in his voice.

* * *

I always get distracted with details and before I even realized it, I had this crazy club description on the page.

I'm not sure if you can picture it, but it's not really important anyway. ^^

Thank you for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

"Where is she?", asked Gibbs gruffly, but Tim's mouth remained frozen, gaping. However, Gibbs didn't need a verbal answer. He followed the gaze of his agent and found the familiar looking blonde woman on the dance floor or rather on the dance podest in the middle of it.

She moved her body rhythmically to the music, her hands gliding over her curves, her eyes closed. She looked like she belonged there, a white angel rising from the moving mass of people below her. Tim was transfixed to the spot until the song finished and Alice tried to step down from the podest as two hands clasped her waist and lifted her down.

"That's Benjamin Grey." Gibbs noticed surprised, but Tim just saw a jerk grabbing his girl. He started to walk over, but his boss' arm held him in place.

"Boss, she's –"

"Wait."

Alice smiled at the guy. Her hand moved over his chest as if smoothing down the fabric of his white suit, then she turned around, leaving him standing there while moving straight back to Tim.

"Done." she smiled happily and sucked on her cocktail straw again.

"What?" Tim couldn't seem to focus as his attention still remained on Grey who was looking daggers at him. Unconsciously Tim lay his arm around Alice's waist. _There you are!_

"The bug."

"Huh?"

"God! She bugged him, McGee! Get a grip!" Gibbs was angry, probably because Tim didn't tell him right away that his friend was here, and turned to the blonde.

"What you doing here?"

"Helping you."

"Did you tell her we'd be here?" Gibbs asked in Tim's direction and the younger agent just shook his head.

"What are doing here?" he asked her again, his firm stare daring her to answer. A shiver ran down Tim's spine, but Alice just slipped on her indifferent mask, grey eyes staring back at him blankly. Tim knew that look on her face, it always appeared when she seemed scared.

"Did you kill them?" Gibbs kept on pressing and Alice started to throw glances at Tim's direction.

"Did someone pay you to do it? Which one is it today? Grey? Or Stein?"

"This is ridiculous." Alice tried to move away, but Gibbs grabbed hold of her arm, holding her in place.

"Answer me! Or do you think you're the good guy here, the heroine, cleaning the streets from the bad guys?"

"You kidding? I don't clean bad guys, I clean _for_ bad guys!"

She jerked her arm away, rubbing at the red spot.

"I just had a suspicion, but... I might be wrong." Her eyes found Tim as she kept on talking. "I thought the list was the key, you know. The FBI list. That's why I came to the club..."

Tim couldn't really make sense of her words. She sounded like she meant more than she said, but just as he opened the mouth, her eyes gazed into the distance and she started moving. "I gotta go."

"We're not done – hey!"

Alice had slipped through the group of people passing the bar, successfully evading Gibbs' outstretched hand.

"Follow her! I'll watch Grey!" he told Tim who already was on his feet, chasing Alice.

"Abby!" Tim shouted into his micro while pressing himself through the crowd towards the stairs. "Alice is running down!"

"I'm on her heels!" came the quick reply from the goth in his ear.

* * *

"I'm going to kiss you now, just so that our cover won't blow." Tony told her delicately, his face mere centimetres from Ziva's, his hand cupping her cheek.

"Okay." Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

"I'm just telling you so that you can turn your ninja reflexes off."

"Okay." Now Ziva was getting slightly annoyed.

"So don't kill me. I'm gonna do it now, therefore –"

"Christ! Tony!"

"Okay, okay, I –"

Without hesitation Ziva reached out and placed her hand in Tony's nape, pressing his head closer to her until their lips touched. Like a curtain that finally fell, their restraint disappeared, giving way to braver kisses and touches.

Just after what seemed like hours, Tony released her lips to ask breathlessly: "He still looking?"

"Yeah.", was Ziva's instant answer and Tony nodded. "Good."

* * *

Tim knew Abby had bad news for him the moment he reached her at the entrance door outside.

"She's gone."

"What do you mean, she's gone?"

"I chased her to the door, but then she just disappeared."

Tim cursed under his breath, looking around. Although hours had passed, people were still partying in front of the club, drinking and dancing to music coming from speakers. He had no idea where to look for her. What did she tell him? Something about the list and the clubs.

"There was someone behind her, Timmy."

Tim turned to look at Abby's worried face.

"Who?"

"I didn't see him, but it looked like she was running from him."

Understanding dawned on him. "She knew the killer. She tried to tell us, but.. he saw her."

Tim leaned down to his micro. "Boss, I think the killer got her."

The line went dead for several seconds, then Gibbs' voice announced: "Regroup. We meet outside at the entrance."

* * *

"Are you alright, you two?", asked Abby as she saw Ziva and Tony's flushed faces. Both nodded in unison, not yet daring to speak.

"Grey is still up on the third floor, drinking with his buddies." Gibbs said and Tony followed his lead. "Stein is still in the basement. What happened?"

"Alice ran away. Someone followed her, I think it's our killer." Tim explained with a grave voice while he looked around. "Here are cameras. Maybe we can identify the guy."

Gibbs nodded. "DiNozzo, you go with McGee. David, you watch Stein. I will stay with Grey. Abby, you go back to the lab, we need you to run the identification programme if we have the guy on tape."

If Abby was disappointed about her eagerly anticipated ladies' night ending so fast, she didn't show. "The security floor is on the fourth floor. Send me the video when you're ready."

"Thanks, Abbs." Tim headed inside, only to turn around again. "You coming, Tony?"

"Yeah." Still, Tony didn't move. Gibbs gave him a curious look, but turned to Tim, gesturing him to go ahead. As he was left with Tony and Ziva, Tony sighed, looking at his boss.

"I don't like that. Ziva with Stein, alone." he admitted, scratching his head absently. The brunette just rolled her eyes. "See you, Tony." As she went back inside, Tony huffed. Really, this woman didn't understand him. Here he was worried for her safety and she just felt like he didn't give her enough credit.

Gibbs eyed him, slightly amused, and gave him a head slap before going back.

"Thank you, boss." With that, Tony hurried to catch up with Tim.

* * *

"That's her. She runs..." Tim watched the tape that showed Alice rushing down the stairs.

"Can you give me another perspective?", he asked unsatisfied, but as the security member started to mumble again, his patience snapped and he shoved the man away from the control desk, hitting the keys himself.

Tony would have joked about him being a total geek, but his Probie seemed pretty tensed up, so he decided to play nice.

"That's him."

Tony followed Tim's gaze and his jaw dropped.

"Impossible."

* * *

Abby ran. Hurry, she needed to hurry. She even kept running on the place while moving up in the elevator.

She stopped at the bullpen where she had left her small computer at McGee's desk this afternoon. Just the emergency lights flickered. She switched the light on as she heard a beeping sound coming from Tim's computer.

Funny, she thought they had already identified every person from Tuesday. She pressed some keys on the keyboard and a collection of images from surveillance tapes appeared.

"Impossible."

McGee had made it. His search engine had found the one person that had visited all clubs the victims were at in the last six months. She had already forgotten about this programme.

After pressing the next button the file of the suspect appeared with a photo.

"Oh... oh... oh-oh..."

Gibbs, she gotta tell Gibbs.

She heard the dialing sound while staring at the photo of a smiling EX-FBI Agent.

* * *

Sorry for the delay! I will post the next chapter this weekend. Thank you for reading! What do you think? Good? Bad? Any advice? :)


	7. Chapter 7

Tony had seen that grey beard before.

"That's Agent Brown, retired FBI agent." he explained. "He was at the club on Tuesday. He had no alibi, but he was FBI, so... oh damn."

"That's how he had the criminal list." Tim completed Tony's thoughts.

"And that's why his apartment was so clean." Tony finished, dumbly looking at Tim.

"She is _really_ a cleaner."

"You still have his address?" Tim asked, not waiting for Tony's nod, already rushing down the stairs.

* * *

Tony hit the breaks as they reached Brown's villa just when Tim had finished his phone call with Gibbs. Too bad the spy set had a reaching distance.

Tim was out of the car before it even stopped moving, running up to the door, his gun ready.

"NCIS, open the door!"

The house was eerily quiet, all windows dark. Tony joined him. He leaned down to pick the lock. After three seconds the door opened with a creak. The hallway was dark. Tim moved ahead, not waiting for Tony to give him the lead.

He found the light switch. The big living room lit up in front of his eyes. He turned around. Tony came from the kitchen, shaking his head.

Tim wouldn't give up. He crossed the living room, opened the next door. A guest room, also empty. He turned around, heading back to the hallroom. Up the stairs. Three doors. He opened the first one, his gun ready.

What if she wasn't here?

It was a bathroom. Empty. He closed the door again, moving to the second one.

What if he didn't find her?

He found himself in a big bedroom, tidy, empty. He stepped to the third door.

What if he was too late?

Tony stood behind him, ready. Tim breathed shakily before placing his head on the door knob.

He stood in a big office room. Picture of old cases on a big notice board, a computer on a long desk. A punchbag right next to the door.

The whooshing sound in his ears got louder, almost drowning out Tony's phone call.

"Boss? They're not here..."

Empty.

* * *

"Okay! Get back here if you can't find a trail!" His voice was snappy, Jethro realized, as he shut the phone, but DiNozzo wouldn't mind it anyway. Hell, he probably didn't even understand every word his boss had just told him, considering the noise in this club.

Jethro hated this music; it was ear-shattering, painful even, and made it hard for him to keep a cool head, though he really needed one right now.

His eyes searched for Grey. Found him. Checked escape routes. All clear. Checked hiding places. Brown could be lurking somewhere, waiting for the kill. All clear.

Maybe Parker had managed to run away. No, that assumption would be naive. Fornell had warned him, undercover missions at clubs weren't even half the fun they seemed to be. Jethro didn't give the man enough credit.

God, this music. He was slow. Did he seem suspicious? Jethro felt old.

"David, report."

"Stein is still drinking with the girls."

David was silent again. It was typical for her, to focus and work silently. It was one of the reasons why Jethro liked working with the agent; he didn't need to talk when it was in vain.

But then there were times when Ziva David wasn't just quiet out of habit, but was literally too busy with thinking, brooding over something all by herself.

Like now. And Jethro didn't like it. He needed to know that his kids were safe.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing, Stein is still here."

He waited, but the silence ensued. A glance to the side confirmed, that his subject was now sitting at his booth again.

"David. Talk to me."

Finally, she talked. "... They're too young."

"Who?"

"'The girls with Stein. Fourteen, maybe. Maybe younger. They seem... compliant."

"Drugged?"

"Think so."

Jethro felt better, even though only slightly. He'd needed to know where her mind was.

"We'll figure something out. Stay put."

"Someone came."

Jethro tensed up. Her voice was different."Hold on –"

"They're getting up, he's taking the girls."

"Who? Stein?"

"No, the men, I need to –"

"Back off! David!"

"They're leaving, I have to –!"

"Bullshit! You stay back! Ziva! What the hell is happening down there?" Jethro was practically screaming at this point, but he didn't care while he ran out of the room, shoving people out of his way. He would only need two minutes to run down to the basement. She couldn't disobey his orders, they were done with that crap. He was already on the second floor. What was this woman thinking?

And then he knew his agent wasn't talking to him anymore.

"What, you leaving already? I thought you were here for fun."

And then, as he heard a dark gravelly voice speaking, he knew they were fucked.

"No, these babies are work. But you could be fun, sweetheart." By the volume of his voice Jethro could very well imagine how close Stein was coming to his agent.

"Work?" She said it seductively, playfully.

"Yeah. I can show you... if you dare?"

* * *

"C'mon, Tim." Tony grabed his shoulders and pulled him along, down the stairs.

"What should we do now?" Tim asked in a monotonous voice. He was on autopilot, checking potential actions in his head like a computer.

"She's not here. He's not here. We need to check surveillance cameras, all around the club. Abby could do that, because now we have a name and a face. Ziva and Gibbs need to keep watching the two criminals, the killer might have followed them. He still might be planning to finish his job. Maybe Alice ran away. I should check her apartment."

"Hey." Tim looked up to his Senior who looked unusually serious. "You need to calm down, Tim. We need your head."

"Yeah." Tim nodded, looking around as if the right thought was just lying around somewhere on the floor.

And then he saw it. First he thought he had only imagined that sparkle, but as he leaned down to take a closer look, Tim recognised it for what it was.

"What's that?" Tony asked, curiously eyeing the white object.

"It's a glass pearl." Tim explained with renewed enthusiasm. "Alice wore a bracelet made of these."

He jumped up and looked around again. "She was here, Tony. Maybe she still is. Look!"

Another glass pearl lay burried in the wool carpet in the kitchen. Both agents looked around.

"Psst." Tony lifted a finger, but Tim heard nothing. Then a quiet hum reached his ears. Tony headed for a door at the other end of the kitchen and opened it.

Tim followed and they looked around the storeroom. Tony moved to the floor and rolled the small carpet to the side. "Trap door." He looked up at Tim who nodded back, both raising their guns.

In one quick motion Tony opened the door. It was completely dark. "Here are stairs." Tony observed, getting ready to step down. After some moments of silence, a light suddenly lit up. Tim followed his partner down into the cellar. Nothing looked suspicious in here, but the occasional hum sounded closer. Both stopped in front a metal door. This time Tim gestured he would go first. It was unlocked. Tim breathed deep before grabbing the cold handle. In one quick movement he tore the door open. The creak echoed in the darkness.

She was here. He didn't see her, even heard her just barely, but he knew she was here. He searched the close wall for a switch. As the light turned on, he saw her, lying on the floor, hands and legs handcuffed, her mouth taped shut, the expression of sheer terror on her face, but alive.

Tim rushed to her side, all the while repeating reassuring words, more to himself than anyone else. He quickly yanked the tape off her mouth.

Alice took some deep breaths before whispering huskily: "Stein. He's after Stein."

Alarmed Tim looked up at Tony, but the Senior agent's gaze was already focused on the FBI list nailed to the far wall with Stein's name underlined, marked with a big red seven.

"Ziva" It was all he said before storming out.

Ziva. Ziva. Ziva...

* * *

"The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew I would have you." Victor Stein explained slowly as if he was talking to a child.

Ziva had to willingly force her eyes not to roll while simultaneously ignoring the desire to reach for her gun.

She smiled somewhat alluringly and gazed over to the two girls. They were unharmed as far as Ziva could see, but appeared to be out of themselves, almost – what was the word? Catatonic? That was it. She wanted to punch Stein so badly that she had to fix her gaze on the car window pane to her side for the rest of the road trip. She barely took part in the men's conversation, only nodding occasionally, all the while listening closely for something important.

Gibbs sounded so angry when he heard that Ziva agreed to accompany Stein and his business men for a ride. Ironically, his furious voice was the one thing that had kept her focused, her voice calm. But now she had been out of the operating range for already five minutes. The line had crackled and then Gibbs' voice had left her.

Nevertheless, this was the only way to stay close to Stein. Okay, she could have taken another car and waited for instructions by Abby who monitored the sensors' positions. But they didn't have the time. And Ziva was never ever letting that monster get away with whatever it was he planned to do to those girls. She hoped to find enough evidence since the FBI apparently needed more to nail his sorry ass. Sadly the subject of conversation were just trivialities about the club.

After a while Stein's driver stopped at a parking lot at the harbour.

"Where are we going, Victor?" Ziva asked, trying to sound naive, but she couldn't hide a slight tremor in her voice.

Stein smiled at her smugly. "Nervous?"

Suddenly a scene from an old mafia movie popped up in her head, where the guy who had screwed up was brought to the harbour, legs in cement, only to be thrown into the ocean. She forced the images out of her head. She needed to stay cool.

"No, just excited."

Stein offered his hand and pulled Ziva out of the car, leading her to the dock while the group of men in dark suits followed them with the girls, still joking and laughing deep in conversation. The water was as black as the sky. Weak lights illuminated their way as they walked passed anchored ships.

"I want to show you my toy." he explained and gestured towards a small yacht. Ziva looked up at the modern ship and smiled appreciatively. "That's amazing!" she said while secretely looking for a way to escape. All of a sudden her courage seemed to shrink by every second as Stein pulled her on the small bridge and then on board. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea, she mused. Getting off a car was easier than getting off a ship.

Just as the last of Stein's security men stepped on the yacht, one of them suddenly fell towards Ziva. She caught his fallen body at the shoulders, trying to help him up, but he still kept sinking to the ground. Then she saw the red dot on his forehead.

"Down!" Her command had barely left her lips when Stein's body collapsed next to her, dropping to the ground like a puppet. The man started to scream, trying to hide behind the ship railing. One started to run towards the ship cabin door, but dropped dead the next moment. But the girls remained standing, looking around drowsily.

Ziva grabbed one and threw her on the ground, the girl barely managed to cushion the fall with her hands. As the agent turned around for the other girl, there was no one left standing anymore. Barely aware that she was now the next hit, she quickly crouched down behind the railing which was a terrible place to hide. But Ziva had no time to think.

She felt disorientated, lost and as if she had gone almost blind since her eyes couldn't make out any movement while her eardrums nearly burst.

Again and again screams filled the air, accompanied by the sound of metal hitting metal as strain bullets missed their targets and hit the ship instead. While the screams declined in frequency, she realized they had to get away.

Otherwise they'd be next.

Ziva looked around, desperately trying to figure out a way to escape the sniper's deathly game of hide and seek.

But all she saw were dead bodies.

* * *

I love building suspense! After the action climax I will go deeper into our agent's relationships. But I think some action is necessary for our heros to reconsider their feelings for each other.

**Thank you for reading and faving and following and a big thank you to the reviewers!** I probably shouldn't place so much value on these things, but I burst with joy every time I get a new fanfiction notification. I just can't help myself. Thank you, really 3


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